Lack of Minority Participants in Medical Research

This month's issue of JAMA poses the question: Where are all the minorities when it comes to research?

The claim is that nationwide too few cancer patients of color are enrolling in studies to test new treatments.

"It's very important for people to enroll in research studies because we need to know if the new medications will work or if they won't work. It's important for us to have diverse populations because we need to know if they're going to work with each population as well," explains Crystal Willoughby from the Yale University School of Nursing.

Yale researchers say that while enrollment in cancer trials is low for all patient groups, it is the lowest among minorities, women, and the elderly, which they say is unfortunate because that means patients are missing out on new and potentially superior treatments for their disease.